Hi Reader!
For anyone who doesn’t already know, I was a teacher for almost 10 years. In that time, I saw students thrive, and I saw students fail.
Across grade levels and subject areas, a trend emerged.
The kids who did well weren’t always the smartest or most passionate. In fact, I had students who thrived in discussions but failed because they never submitted writing assignments. Some of that was likely due to undiagnosed learning differences or home situations that hampered academic success, but in many cases, the real differentiator was mindset.
Some students believed school was useless and would never have an impact on their future.
Some students believed they would fail no matter how hard they worked.
I can’t speak to where those beliefs came from for every student, but the effects of were clear in their work, or lack thereof.
Other students believed that even if the work was hard, they could get help and achieve enough to pass (or get an A if they were really striving). They believed that English class mattered, if only so they could get through high school and move on to the rest of their lives. Different mindset, different results.
If the word mindset makes you roll your eyes, I get it.
There are too many influencers out there treating mindset like a magic spell. Just close your eyes and see your success and with a snap of your fingers you’ll go from messy draft to million-dollar book deal. All you have to do is believe…
Nope, not how it works. (Sorry if you thought I was going to tell you that revision success was merely a wish away!)
But that doesn’t mean mindset is useless.
Mindset doesn’t magically make anything happen but mindset does affect how hard you work and the attitude you approach that work with.
Let’s look at an example.
Imagine two writers. We’ll call them Writer A and Writer B.
Both are beginning writers. They’re passionate about their story ideas, but they don’t yet have the skill to write a great book.
Writer A knows that writing a book is difficult but believes that writing is a learnable skill. They look at their messy first draft and know that it needs to be better. So they read craft books, take classes, and get feedback. They revise that messy draft multiple times and eventually it becomes sellable and successful.
In contrast, Writer B believes that writing is a natural talent. They look at their messy first draft and see failure. There’s no hope, so they throw that draft in a drawer and forget about writing until another idea takes hold of them.
They try again, but once again their draft is a mess. They feel like they’ve failed again, and that novel goes straight into the drawer.
Eventually, Writer B stops trying to write at all because they don’t believe they can do it. Clearly, if they were supposed to write a book they would have been born with the talent to do so.
If they come across Writer A celebrating their success on Instagram, they’ll tell themselves that Writer A just got lucky. (And yes, there is an element of luck in publishing but Writer B took themselves out of the game before it even started).
Your mindset shapes the actions you take.
If you believe you can learn to write, you will invest in that learning.
If you believe that your book can be better than it is right now, you will commit time and energy to revising it.
If you believe that your book is going to fail no matter what you do, then you won’t do the work to make it great–even if you are consciously telling yourself that you want the book to succeed.
In Reader Ready Revisions, I teach that most revision problems start between your ears, not on the page. And it’s true.
Fear and self-doubt and indecision and stubbornness…the list goes on and on.
Whatever shape they take for you, mindset issues can creep in and do so much damage to your writing process, even if you aren’t consciously aware of them.
That’s why I created the Revision Mindset Workshop.
We’ll talk about the mindsets that keep writers stuck, but this isn’t going to be a sit-and-take-notes lecture. We will start doing the work on this call. That means exercises, time to ask questions, and actionable advice if your revision mindset is holding you back.
Not revising quite yet? That’s okay! I specialize in revision, but these mindsets show up throughout the writing process and it’s never too early or too late to start cultivating the right mindset for your writing success.
You can register for the mindset workshop here for $49 or bundle and get all three of my summer workshops for $97 here.
Better Living
For those who have been following the wedding planning saga in this newsletter, I am excited to announce that we have a venue and a date locked in!!
It came down to two venues that we loved for very different reasons, but we finally made a decision. The deposit has been paid, and I am officially getting married in less than a year. Now on to everything else, including my first DIY project - save the date bookmarks (we’re both book people, so this will be a theme).
Better Reading
I read a lot of books about writing; it’s part of the job and one of my favorite ways to learn. Over the years, I’ve developed some opinions. That’s why I’m sharing my top 10 craft book recommendations on the podcast. Part 1 dropped today, and Part 2 will come out next week.
You can listen or watch here.
Have a craft book recommendation to add to the list? Hit reply and let me know!!
Thank you for reading, have a wonderful week, and happy writing!
With love,
Olivia
P.S. In case you missed it, I'm running three summer workshops! The first one - The Revision Mindset Workshop - is happening next Tuesday, August 4th! You can register here.
Your story matters. Let's make it great.
Curious to know how I can help? Check out my services here. I can't wait to work with you, so you can write the book your future readers are waiting for!
600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
Unsubscribe · Preferences
